Rocket Rider
by Micky Moon
Summary: ON HIATUS: She helped him shoot for the moon and he left her behind in a trail of twinkling stars. —Midorima/OC
1. One

**One**

"He looks like a frog," she thought when she first saw him.

Standing in front of her was a smartly dressed boy whose green hair became ingrained in her mind like the multiplication table she had to memorize last week. And Reina Watanabe didn't want this. She had planned to spend this visit as brief as possible and pass it off as a fleeting memory before returning home where she could organize her lucky charm collection. Instead, she was stuck greeting with her mom the new next door neighbors.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," her mother was speaking in a voice Reina could gag. "I want to be the first to welcome you! Here are some fresh vegetables!"

Reina knew hospitality was not her mother's intentions. The reason why the house next to hers was ever empty was due to her mother's hot headedness and tendency to bond with others. If a person ignored her long enough, a fuse inside of her could be set off. It was annoying but seven year old Reina learned to cope with it.

The problem as of now was not her mother's temperament but the frog boy.

"Watanabe Reina," she held her hand out like how her mother taught her. "Please to meet you."

Frog boy stared at her hand for a while, with those slant eyes of his. His mother with matching green hair but bright sky blue eyes urged her son to say a word. The action ticked Reina off a bit. She didn't want to be here as much as he did yet she tried her best at being polite.

"Midorima Shintaro," came his stiff reply. He didn't say another word, not even taking her offering hand.

The frog boy simply stared at his feet, pushing his glasses up his nose while a tense silence made its way between the young children. Reina still had her arm out, feeling peeved when her mother finally took notice of this and patted her daughter.

"Now, now Reina," she cooed, "why don't you play with Midorima-kun while his mother and I chat indoors?"

"But," Reina started to protest but frog boy's mother agreed quickly, leaving no other option for the girl who wanted to go home more than anything. Five minutes after, she found herself stuck with frog boy while the adult females went into the comfort of an AC house.

"He doesn't even seem to be any fun," Reina muttered as she sat two feet away from frog boy on his front lawn. "I could be at home…"

A light bulb idea flashed in her head and she got up, calling to capture the boy's attention. "Hey, frog boy!"

The boy who had been analyzing the soles of his sneakers looked up, a cross expression clouding his face. "…frog boy? I have a name you know."

"Yeah, what was it? Shin? Mido? Rina? Well, I'm really bad with names you see—"

"—Midorima Shintaro."

"Right, Mido-san," Reina nodded, "anyways, since we're supposed to 'play,' you want to come to my room?"

"Midorima-san," he corrected again. "And what benefits come from entering your room?"

"Wah, you sure use big words for a seven year old," Reina said in faux amazement. "Do you also have fun like an adult too if you use big words like an adult? Staring at grass must be really fun then."

The boy remained silent, causing Reina to regret what she had said. Did she hurt his feelings? All she wanted was to be with her lucky charms collection.

"Look, Mi-midorima-san," Reina tried again, hoping she got his name correct. "It's really hot here and we're not doing anything. I'll show you something special in my room. Okay?"

He gave her a look which told her he doubted her tastes which didn't really bother Reina. Instead, she took this as a chance to walk ahead, opening the backdoor to her house which was always kept unlocked. Staring back at where they sat before, Reina found that the boy still stayed put. In any other situation, she would have just left him there. But she didn't know whether or not he was going to tattle to her mom.

"Please Midorima-san?" she called out again, "I'll…uhm…even…let you have a ball!"

Boys liked balls, right?

Frog boy stared at her in surprise, before covering his mouth and making a strange noise. Reina became a bit worried by this, wondering if she was going to get tattled anyways. But then the boy got up and appeared beside her.

"I was just feeling hot," he said simply, "it's not like I'm eager to look at what you have to offer or anything."

"Yeah, like I'm doing this to please you," Reina silently thought before putting on her sweetest hostess smile. She opened the door revealing a quaint kitchen and gestured. "Welcome to my humble abode!"

There wasn't much to show besides the dining room, living room, bathroom and closet. The two children navigated their way with Reina making commentary on the worthwhile sights while Midorima simply followed. Then, when they were finished, Reina led them up the stairs where their final destination was.

"Where's your father?" Midorima asked casually as they reached the second floor. Her hand which had been reaching for the knob of her bedroom door stopped and hung in the air for the briefest second before twisting the door open. "Just…nowhere."

She left him no room for a response when the sight of her bedroom instilled fear. "Oh no!"

"What's...going on?" Midorima asked uncertainly as he watched the girl walk in and out with a large bundle of tissues at lightning speed.

"Jam!" was the explanation Reina gave before stopping. "Phew, thank goodness not everything was ruined."

"What happened?" Midorima asked again albeit more impatient this time. He had stood as a spectator so she couldn't really blame him. Gesturing to the box she was thoroughly cleaning, she said, "My lucky charm collection!"

The boy peered in the purple stained cardboard box, his eyes widening at its contents. Reina couldn't help but feel a bit giddy by his reaction, having thought she would be made fun of as usual. Instead, she watched frog boy look at her trinkets—down from a yellow sock to a pack of mint to an empty tube of toothpaste. His eyes finally stopped at a piece of paper jutting out in the middle of random knick knacks.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Oh this?" She pulled out the paper, revealing it as a magazine. "It's Oha Asa Horoscope magazine! It's actually a television show but if you subscribe you can get a magazine version. I bought it so I can stay on top of getting the lucky item of the day."

"Isn't that pretty useless?" He inquired. "What's the point in luck? It's just chance that may or may not work."

"Then why don't you just leave?" Reina sarcastically muttered but bit her tongue when realizing what she had just said. "I mean...increasing your chance by even one percent makes a difference. The thing about one percent chance is that it's not zero. "

He seemed to have listened intently to what she said, remaining quiet as he leaned against the wall. Reina grew tensed by the ticking second, wondering if she said something wrong again. Looking for an answer, Reina glanced out the window and saw the basketball hoop in her backyard.

"Basketball," she blurted, startling the boy. "You wanna play?"

And so, Reina and Midorima climbed back down to her backyard, Reina grabbing a slippery orange ball from her closet on their way. She practiced her dribbling before turning to Midorima.

"You know how to play?"

"I don't engage in physical activities much."

Figured. Judging from his porcelain white skin, she assumed he had never step foot from his house in his life. It was kind of enviable since her mother would never shut up about the darkness of her own skin.

Hey, it wasn't her fault she liked shooting hoops.

"It's fine, I don't either," she reassured him.

"Really? Why even have a hoop if you don't have a clue how to play the game?"

A vein popped on her forehead as Reina restrained herself from punching the boy. Just as she thought he was turning alright, he made an obnoxious comment like that. Well, two could play at that game.

"Well I just said play," Reina countered, taking steps back until she reached halfway in her drive way and a few feet away from the basket and Midorima. "I could still shoot which is something, unlike some people."

The boy rolled at her obvious hint and was going to retort when Reina didn't let him. She threw the ball, at an angle not quite impossible to reach but not quite easy for a girl her age to throw, which soared until it landed its way to the ground, crashing through the net perfectly.

Whoosh!

"See?" Reina said smugly to the boy. "How about that—"

"Amazing," Midorima murmured in a hushed, amazed manner. "That was amazing." When he noticed Reina staring at him weirdly, he strangely blushed and coughed. "W-well, it's not like I'm amazed by you. I'm actually amazed by...by...the ball for going through the hoop."

The ball going through the hoop? Could his cover up be any lamer than that? Reina felt like sneering, that if he didn't like her shooting he could just leave when something clicked.

"Ah, so that is his personality," Reina nodded as she observed the green haired boy avoiding eye contact as much as possible now. "The type to deny things while meaning the opposite." She tried searching in her mind for the character term used often in the mangas she read. "...tsundere?"

"Excuse me?" The green haired boy snapped her, irritation evident. Reina blinked back before realizing she had said her last thought aloud.

"Uhm..." She searched for an excuse, a response, anything that would exempt her from facing his wrath (or so she assumed he would have one since the tsunderes in her mangas always had one). She stepped forward a bit but felt her feet touch something.

The basketball.

She picked it up, hoping it would be her ticket to freedom. "Want me to teach you?"

—

Later that night as she rid the last of the jelly stains, she picked up the horoscope magazine.

"Watch out, Taurus! You may bump into that special someone whether you admit it or not! But be careful of how your relationship will turn out since it can easily turn out horrendous. Your lucky item of the day is a green frog plushie."

As Reina set down the magazine, she gaped at the opened container of jelly.

"Wait...so I got my lucky item wrong?! And above all, it's a green frog plushie?!"

* * *

Word count: 1807

* * *

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm pretty inexperienced with writing KnB characters but I hope this chapter has done Midorima's character justice. I had lots of fun writing this and hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well. Hope to have your love and support! Thanks for reading you guys! (:


	2. Two

**Two**

"Basketball team and that's final. This year, the school has nabbed a member from the Generation of Miracles. Unless you can come up with something better, you're wasting your time here, rookie."

Being told that, sixteen year old Reina Watanabe fumed in quiet rage while she glared down at the back of her senpai's back. Other occupants in the room were unbothered by the tensed atmosphere shared between them, too busy with their individual work. In that room, paperwork was eternal and sleep was hardly an option.

This was Shūtoku High's newspaper club, famed to release the most newsworthy student news Japan had to offer. It was the main reason Reina had enrolled in the school and undergo the severe training that came with admission. The training included intensive editing work over fifty pages long as well as other chores such as learning to master certain computer programs. Not to mention there was school work to deal with. Since the first day of school, Reina struggled hard to balance everything out with little results.

"What's wrong with exposing the poisoning behind cafeteria lunch?" Reina tried saying patiently again. "It's scandalous! It's interesting! It's newsworthy!"

"Yes it is but you're not perfect for it," the president turned around in his chair, revealing to Reina his shaggy brown hair and calculating green eyes. "Just look at yourself!"

Reina did a quick self check to find nothing out of the ordinary. "What? What's wrong with me?"

The boy sighed. "Must I point out the obvious?" He stood up, gesturing up and down her body. "It's your appearance! Gray eyes and shoulder length black hair? It's so plain, how do you expect to get anyone for an interview? You don't even bother putting cute accessories in your hair!"

"Really, that's your reason," sneered Reina. She was aware how materialistic the president could be but she never knew it was to this extent. "Fukui-senpai, criticizing my looks are low you know. I'm aware of my plain appearance. I've been told to change. But if I do, isn't that just giving into their demands?"

Fukui Hiroshi scratched his head before picking a pencil and pointing it at Reina frustrated. "This is why you're such a disagreeable person to work with! That stubbornness! What's the harm in making your hair one day, huh?"

"No harm but I hardly see the impact it has on journalism."

"I'm doing this for you, Watanabe. For you. In my experiences with the newspaper club, the newbies who didn't bother to dress up had a harder time interviewing people than those that did. I don't want someone like you to experience that."

"Still! Doesn't that become a date if the reporter dresses too nicely?!"

"And does it matter? As long as it gets the job done efficiently."

"That's really disgusting Fukui-senpai," Reina snatched back the parcel of paper. "I'll show you. I'll show your disgusting mind how 'plain' people can operate well without makeup."

She stormed out, knocking into a few papers others were working in the meanwhile. She apologized but didn't help clean up. They were obviously eavesdropping and commenting in agreement on her physical appearance by the leer twinkling in their eyes.

Was this truly the club she wanted to join?

"Come back when you only have something newsworthy," Fukui-senpai called and Reina snapped back to what she was doing.

She stood up and threw one last glare at her unaffected senpai before slamming the door violently shut behind her. On the other side of the door, however, she immediately slumped to the ground with her back against the door.

—

Through all of senpai's shenanigans, he said something true back in the club room. Plain people were ignored. As she tried to get a cook to help her with the lunch food poisoning article, she was ignored. Not one kitchen staff seemed to even offer an interview later on and was deeply wrapped up in their cooking. Reina gave up momentarily, watching by the side how the ladies operated.

A megane walked in with his head held low and back arched. In a quiet voice he asked for the number two and was given a moderate portion of mashed potatoes, peas, corn and bread.

Now another black haired boy came but with eyes that lit up and a killer smile. He asked for the same meal except in a more jovial manner. As a result, his sharing was exponentially larger.

"Hey!" Reina cried in indignation, startling both the cook and the boy given the larger portion. "Why did you give him that much huh? You didn't give that glasses kid this much."

The cook seemed flustered and angry by this outburst, with the way her face turned red. Reina knew she probably had no shot at getting an interview now but she didn't care anymore after witnessing this. "W-well, I just so happen give students however I can. I can't be perfect."

"It was very much obvious you gave him much more than the other kid," Reina said, "I saw you giving him two spoonful. Here you're giving five!"

"He's on a sports team though!"

"And?! We're all paying for lunch damnit! Are you trying to rip us off?!"

"Miss."

A tap on the shoulder made her turn to the black haired boy who was smiling widely right now. He was leaning forward to reach the ladle, his height enabling him so. "I understand why you say it's unfair I had so many," he was saying. "So thank you!"

"Thank you?" Reina echoed quizzically, "what did I do that helped?"

The boy winked as he finished evening out the contents in his tray. It was even less than what the boy before him received. "By being pretty. Ja'na!"

He waved goodbye before disappearing into the monstrous crowd at the lunchroom and it seemed even his height wasn't tall enough to make him be seen. All Reina could do was stare at where he last stood.

"Did...did he just call me pretty?!"

"Look what you've done," the cook complained suddenly. "You've let Takao starved now!"

"Takao? That's his name?"

"Yes, Kazunari Takao. How long are you going to be here, miss? Get out if you have nothing else. I don't need a bother here."

—

"So the lunch food idea is totally bombed," Reina muttered as she looked over her list of topics. "So that just leaves...just about nothing."

Agitated, she threw her notepad and pen on the ground, sprawling her body over the school bench dejectedly. It was after school and activities were ongoing now, the track not so far away from her was being used by the track team. The sun was shining brightly and most students who had no activities had made outdoor plans already. Reina, on the other hand, had none.

"Must be nice," she murmured, "to have friends..."

She came to Shūtoku High in hopes of making new friends, one reason she joined the newspaper club. But months into the school year, she found her loner status from middle school remain the same.

"Whatever," Reina shook her head. "You like being alone Reina! It doesn't matter!"

She reached into her knapsack for the bento she cooked for herself but never got to eat. Seeing its contents, she sort of wished she had gotten cafeteria lunch instead of arguing with the ladies. She reached for the homemade egg roll and bit into it, a weird sensual feeling seeping over it. Once she swallowed, she shuddered.

She wasn't the greatest cook despite being home alone frequently.

Still, with her rumbling stomach she doubted anything for the newspaper would get done. She downed the bento to its entirety, leaving no egg roll behind. When she was finished, it was already growing dark and the track team was heading home. It was a sign that there would be nothing newsworthy and Reina would have to wait tomorrow. The girl sighed as she packed her belongings, strapping on her bag when she noticed a large building not so far away still brightly lit.

"Hm?" She pondered, "what is this?"

Letting curiosity get the best of her, Reina approached the building in hopes of scoring a story. She opened the door slowly, finding it surprisingly unlocked. However, it creaked loudly and Reina winced, hoping no one knew she was there. When she peeked in, it appeared that the one person inside didn't even look in her way.

The building turned out to be, to her utmost annoyance, a basketball court with bright lights hanging from above for players to practice well late into the night. She vaguely recalled her senpai's insistence that she'd write about the school's basketball team and grimaced.

Basketball was the very sport she tried to run away from yet it was the very topic that would land her a membership. How ironic.

But now wasn't the time to dwell much about her preferences but by the lone player practicing on the court right now. Seeing that he hadn't noticed her, she stealthily slipped from the door to the bleachers, gaining automatic access to front row seats.

"He has a nice form," Reina thought as she fished out her phone to video tape. "It's no wonder senpai wants me to write about basketball."

The player continued shooting, his ball sailing higher and higher yet still landing perfectly into the net. And he didn't pause either. He shown remarkable endurance and Reina figured he must be part of the first string if his uniform did not make it any more apparent.

"That's strange," Reina thought for a second. "Senpai said this school had a member from the generation of miracles, right?"

Having been from the same middle school as the basketball prodigies, Reina shared personal experiences with them. Truthfully, most were not pleasant especially one in particular.

Thud!

Her eyes widened at her phone as the shooter had finally noticed he had a spectator and tripped in a painfully embarrassing way. And she caught it. All on video.

Shutting her phone, Reina jumped to her feet to help the boy on the ground.

"Are you alright?" She asked, offering her hand.

He glared at it, making Reina wonder if she had done something wrong. He took her hand in the end, his large hand latching firmly onto her puny one. When he stood up, Reina felt a midget. He was around 194 centimeters to 195 centimeters while she was at a stinking 163 centimeter height.

"Your hand." He cleared his throat.

Reina looked down to see that her hand was still clapped on top of his and she hastily removed it.

"I'm sorry!" She bowed apologetically.

He sighed. "What are you doing here? It's late and it doesn't seem like you left anything here."

"I...uh...well..." She searched in her mind for something to say. In the meanwhile, the boy had gone ahead to retrieve all the orange balls he had been practicing with. "I..."

"It's late," he commented, his attention not quite on her. "And you have a long train ride home. Why are you here?"

His last comment caught her off guard as she eyed this boy who she had seen for the first time today. "How do you know I have a long train ride home?"

The boy dropped a basketball and turned. His face was a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. "Are you kidding me? Baka, I live next door to you!"

_Next door..._ Reina's grey eyes widened by this implication. "Frog boy?!"

"You're still calling me that," he said exasperated. He continued with his cleanup.

Reina, on the other hand, was shocked beyond belief. "Midorima-san came here? Of all schools, here?!"

"Midorima-san?" He repeated, agitatedly. "Oh yes, I forgotten you weren't supposed to talk to me."

"What?" She snapped. "Don't talk as if you know me."

"How could you not recognize me though," Midorima continued. "You truly are a Baka then. Not to remember a person with green hair."

"Ah, so even you admit your hair is strange," Reina played along irritably, "I thought you had the sense to dye your hair black before entering high school."

"Why would I do that? I'm not a hooligan."

"And green hair doesn't make you a hooligan?" Reina shot back.

"Baka, I look dignified and I am dignified. And I have the top test scores of our grade," he bragged.

"How modest," was all Reina said through gritted teeth, remembering how thorough she studied to no avail. "Well, if you're that smart how come you didn't notice me?"

"I-I did notice! I just didn't want to make you feel bad that I did, Baka!"

"Tsundere," Reina muttered, remembering the term she coined her ex-friend long ago.

"What?!"

"Nothing," she stepped away, looking around the court in disdain. "So you're still playing basketball."

"Hm."

She took a basketball and tried to spin it atop her finger. It quickly tipped and fell on the ground. "And you're using that technique I taught you."

"Hm."

"Huh," she said simply although what she really wanted to say was, "You don't have any shame? Using my techniques and never thanking me?"

The two stood in silence, Reina's accusation hanging in the air like a knife in waiting for the kill.

"Are you going to play or what?" He broke the silence first. "I need to finish cleaning up.

"No, why would I?" Reina quickly dropped the ball. "I'm leaving."

She ran to the bleachers to fetch her knapsack. As soon as she did so, she headed for the door where Midorima was already changed and waiting.

"What, so fast." Reina said in surprise.

The boy's visage was devoid of expressions, his bangs tickling the rim of his thick black glasses. "No, you're just slow."

"Of course..." She stepped aside for Midorima to close up. She was about to leave him, in hopes she could catch a train Midorima wouldn't be able to when he tapped her shoulder.

"Phone," he said, holding out his hand.

Reina stared at it, just as how he stared at hers minutes before. "Ew, I don't need your number!"

"I'm not giving you my number," Midorima hissed, "I'm deleting your video."

"In that case, no way!" She took her phone from her pocket and placed it into her breast pocket, patting it triumphantly.

"Rei-Watanabe-san..." He said calmly, the clenched fists by his side saying otherwise. "If you don't give it to me, I guarantee that the near future for you won't be..._possible_."

There was certainly nothing calm about the more-than-obvious threat he just dished out. Reina was no fool. But _she_ was supposed to be making the threats and making _him_ feel timid. She was the one with the blackmail material.

Wait. Blackmail material.

She began to laugh hysterically, uncaring of the inevitable stares Midorima was giving her. How fucked up was the universe? She had been trying so hard to get away from basketball. The only way she could get into the newspaper club was through basketball. And now she had blackmail material usable on a _basketball_ player.

"Hey…are you alright…?" Midorima poked her uncertainly, clearly discomforted by her hysterical self.

It was like the universe urged her to go back to the sport of basketball.

"Pft, like I'm going to let you win," Reina muttered, "I won't let you win."

"Oi, what's wrong?" He was now waving his hand furiously in front of her. "Answer me—"

She grabbed hold of his hand and pulled it closer towards him who consequently drew in his body and face. His eyebrows widened in surprise and his glasses slid down a notch but he made no impulse to push it up. Reina grinned. He was nervous.

"Want me to delete the video?" She asked. He didn't answer. Their lips had too little centimeters of a distance from contact for Midorima's taste. Conversely, Reina didn't notice it, having nothing but the newspaper article on her mind.

She spoke, her breath tickling her ex-friend's face, "I'll delete it. _After_ you help me come up and develop a successful news article."

* * *

Word count: 2677

* * *

A/N: Words can't express my gratitude towards all of you who have reviewed/favorite/followed this fanfic. Thank you so much and I hope I have your continued support!


End file.
